FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Pro Mic Standard Troubleshooting Procedure

Before submitting a service request, please take a moment to review the following steps.

Are you within the return period at the retail center that you purchased it from? Have you considered contacting them for an exchange?

If your retailer is unable to provide assistance or you are past the return period, please try the following troubleshooting methods to determine if your microphone needs repair.

Try to determine that the issue is being caused by your microphone and not another component in the signal chain: Change cables, test your microphone on another mixer/preamp/interface, test another microphone on your originial mixer/preamp/interface, restart your mixer/preamp/interface/computer.

Have you applied phantom power (+48V) to your microphone? (48 volts of direct current is necessary for all condenser microphones to function properly. Do not engage Phantom Power 48V for tube microphones.)

Although we don't make software, we do offer all-in-one recording bundles that inlcude PreSonus Studio One Blue Microphones Edition software. For example, check out Yeti Studio: www.bluemic.com/yetistudio. Othewise, there are quite literally dozens of programs to choose from, including Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase, Ableton, Garageband, Reason, Reaper, Hindenberg Journalist, Journalist Pro and Audacity. Choose the one that’s right for you—Blue mics work with ALL of them!

Some time ago, a small production issue arose regarding the Radius Shockmount threading connection. Rest assured, we have since fixed the problem. If for any reason you received a Radius Shockmount with this problem, we will gladly accept your microphone and shockmount for correction here at Blue HQ, and issue you a pre-paid label for your trouble. Please visit our Customer Service request form (requires a Blue Web Store user account).

If you want to use 2 identical Blue USB mics at the same time, here's what you need to do. First off, identical mics have the same “digital thumbprint” so to speak. This makes it difficult for your computer to distinguish the two microphones from each other, leaving one unusable.

However, we do have the ability to alter this “digital thumbprint” of your mics so that it’s possible for your computer to recognize both of them simultaneously.

In order to take advantage of this service we offer, you must currently be under our 2 year manufacturer warranty, and you must have purchased your mics from an authorized dealer. It can take some time for this process to get completed, so do allow at least 5 business days. If you're interested in having this done, please visit our Customer Service request form (requires a Blue Web Store user account).

If you can provide proof of purchase—anything from a confirmation email, bank statement, shipping notification, etc.—along with your current shipping address and contact info, we will gladly send the replacement cable(s) you need. Please visit our Customer Service request form (requires a Blue Web Store user account).

Even if you have your Spark Digital plugged into an iOS device, it will not power on unless you are actively running a recording application. For some recording apps, you must actually be recording for the mic to power (though those are rare). This is a built in protection with Apple's products, protecting the iPad and iPhone from having too much power drawn.

On a PC, you will navigate to Start Menu / Control Panel /Hardware and Sound /Sound /Manage Audio Devices. Here, under “Recording”, you will right click and ENABLE your microphonei, and DISABLE any other active device.

On Mac, you will navigate to System Preferences / Sound / Input. Here, simply select your microphone from the list. To set your output see "I plugged in my USB microphone, now I can't hear any sound through my speakers!"

Don't panic! Your microphone is just defaulting as your Playback/Output device. This is an optional feature, and you can choose to use your computer speakers, or a pair of headphones plugged into your computer as your output instead.

On a PC, you will navigate to Start Menu / Control Panel /Hardware and Sound /Sound /Manage Audio Devices. Here, under “Playback”, you will right click and DISABLE the Yeti, and ENABLE your desired Playback device.

On Mac, you will navigate to System Preferences / Sound /Output. Here, simply select your desired output device from the list.
To set your input see "How do I set my USB mic as my default recording or input device?"

Typically, when there’s an issue where the microphone can’t be recognized by the operating system, there’s a failure in communication between the firmware of the microphone and the audio drivers on your computer. Where the communication breakdown occurs takes some troubleshooting to find out. Run through these questions as a quick diagnostic:

Have you made sure to try all the available USB ports on your computer?

Do you have another USB cable you can try using?

Have you removed any potential devices that can cause interference with your mic, like webcams, magic jacks, etc?

Have you had an opportunity to try the mic on another computer to see how it behaves?

It’s important to understand the audio drivers are not actually installed by our microphones. When you plug in the USB mic, the microphone firmware communicates with your operating system, and tells it to trigger audio drivers that are already built into your operating system. Try downloading new drivers for your operating system before using your new mic. You can usually find these on the website or support forums for the manufacturer of your OS.

There are a large number of things that could present potential issues with custom-built machines. Computers that are bought off the shelf that are designed as a complete system have been optimized to function as a system. When people put together their own systems, they can encounter certain issues because all the parts were likely not designed by the same company, and for use with each other within the same system.

There could be small issues such as not providing the correct amount of air circulation, or correct heat sink scheme, which could cause over heating issues affecting the USB bus. There could be an issue with the power supply either not providing the correct amount of power to all components, or maybe just being a faulty power supply that, in turn, causes the USB bus to provide the incorrect power to USB devices.

Because each machine is different, there isn’t a cut and dry answer to this issue. Compare the mic’s function on your custom machine to its function on a factory one to determine if your unique computer is causing the trouble.

The higher quality the microphone, the more sensitive it will be. The more sensitive the microphone, the more it will pick up—bringing with it unwanted ambient sound like typing and mouse clicks. Unless you’re recording in a vacuum, it’s impossible to get rid of all ambient sound from recordings. However, there are several things we can do to minimalize it as much as possible.

The first thing we want to do is set proper gain staging—this means setting an appropriate gain level on your mic, and also on your computer.

To access the gain input in your PC’s control panel, go to the Start Menu/Control Panel/ Hardware and Sound/ Sound

The navigate to the “Recording” tab, then right click your Yeti Pro.

Go to “Properties”, and click the “Levels” tab.

On a Mac, you would access that by:

1. Going to System Preferences/ Sound/ Input, and adjusting the volume slider.

However, you can take very simple measures at home. For example, recording in a smaller space will automatically reduce certain sound reflections and environmental noise. You will also need to deaden this space somewhat. If you’re not so lucky to have acoustic proofing lying around, you’ll be surprised what small improvements will do. Things like hanging blankets around your recording space, moving your bookshelves closer in to you, turning off your air conditioners and electronics in other part of your home—all these small things add up to a big difference.

If you aren’t registering any sound from your Yeti mic on mac, try one of these hacks.

Under system preferences, go to Sound/ Input. The try dragging the volume slider all the way down and all the way back up. Doing this may force the signal to register on a Mac.

As another solution, go to Finder/ Applications/ Utilities/ Audio Midi Setup. Find your Yeti from the options on the left side of this window, then select it. Now, make sure that none of the input volume sliders are turned down or any mute boxes are checked.

Experiencing some high-pitched “whine” in your sound? We’re here to help put some “why” into the “whine”. Read on to fix it.

“Whine” usually means one of two things:

Interference from your recording space

A malfunction in your mic’s hardware.

The only way to know for sure is to record in a different environment. Ask yourself these things to try and assess your environment.

What is the current recording environment like?

Are there lots of electronics nearby – modems, gaming consoles, etc?

Now try recording in a complete different space, a “dead” space that’s free of extra electronics. Try moving the microphone around this space, all the while listening for any changes or fluctuations in the “whine”. If it dissipates or lessens in any way, then it’s likely that the high-pitched “whine” you’re experiencing is interference from your recording environment. If you experience no change in the whine, please visit our Customer Service request form (requires a Blue Web Store user account).

The important thing to note when using microphones for teleconferencing is that there are factors beyond our control that contribute to audio quality. If we follow our signal beyond the microphone, we are first at the mercy of our own Internet connection. That signal then undergoes more processing depending on the processing capability of the teleconferencing program you are using. That signal then goes into space (yes, as in outer space) through a network of satellites, and then transmitted back down at the mercy of your recipient’s Internet connection.

As you can imagine, this process can leave a lot of room for compromised audio—weather conditions, varying internet speeds, all these things can contribute greatly. It’s the exact same thing that happens when we get poorly streaming video on our TV, even though the TV works just fine.

While Yeti Studio is a product bundle sold through Blue Microphones, Nectar Elements software is supported by the company that designed it—iZotope. For assistance with installation, or help using the software you have, you’ll be best served by contacting their support department. You can contact them by clicking the link below.

As far as Yeti Studio is concerned, Studio One and Nectar Elements software are available through the companies that make them, which are PreSonus and iZoptope respectively. These products, while included in Yeti Studio as a bundle, are not made by Blue Microphones. Yeti Studio includes a link and software license for the products. Addiitonaly, you can purchase Studio One and Nectar Elements on their own.

You may be dealing with what we call a “ghost microphone”. We're not entirely sure what causes this to occur, but it’s a malfunction of the digital identification of the mic causing it to be recognized generically. It’s like a mic with no fingerprints. Because of this, your operating system has no way to identify what it’s working with. To correct the problem, please visit our Customer Service request form (requires a Blue Web Store user account).

To set up your Blue Yeti for Skype, make sure you’ve selected the mic as your default recording device in your Control Panel or Preferences See "How do I set my USB mic as my default recording or input device?"

Now, make sure your Skype preferences are set correctly.

Navigate to Skype Preferences/ Tools/ Options/ Audio Settings.

Here, make sure that you have your USB mic selected as your Microphone and Speaker.

Yeti Nano is designed for big sound in a tiny package, but it needs to be configured properly for optimal performance. Follow these steps to get the most out of your Yeti Nano:

Gain adjustment: Gain determines the microphone sensitivity, meaning how much or how little the mic picks up. Adjust the microphone gain using the Sherpa app for optimal levels, warmth, and presence.

Proximity: For maximum clarity and minimum background noise, place the microphone as close to the sound source as possible. Louder sound sources like guitar amps, big radio vocals or shouting streamers may require more distance to avoid overloading the mic. To get less room noise, move closer to Yeti Nano and decrease the gain.

Microphone pattern: Make sure you’re using the correct pickup pattern for your application. Cardioid mode picks up sound from directly in front of the microphone, and is perfect for single-host podcasts, streaming, Skype calls, voiceovers, and instruments. In Cardioid mode, always point the Blue logo toward the sound source. Omnidirectional mode picks up sound from all around the microphone, making it ideal for multiple-person interviews, podcasts with multiple hosts, and conference calls.

Blue Powered Headphones is a completely analog headphone that uses a custom Audiophile Amplifier and driver system to reduce strain on the built-in amplifier of whatever device you’re listening to. By alleviating this pressure from your device, audio quality and clarity is drastically improved.

For example, instead of cranking up your phone to 90-100% level in order to get decent volume from a typical headphone, Blue Powered Headphones only asks for about 30-40% of that level. Your device’s amplifier can now work in its comfortable operating range allowing it to provide the best possible audio from the source. No need for DAC—simply plug in your Blue Powered Headphones to the analog output of your device and go.

You can easily tighten the head using a T10 x 60 torque screwdriver. Locate the torque screws at the back of Nessie’s grill—on the right and left sides of the serpentine neck. There’s no need to open anything on the microphone when you do this, just be careful. Tighten until snug, and you’re back in action!

At first listen, our ears would tell us that the on board mic is “louder” than your Blue mic. But in actuality, this isn’t the case. The reason for this is “perceived loudness”.

When discussing the nature of human hearing, you find out that humans hear on a curve. That means that, within the frequency spectrum, humans perceive certain frequencies or “pitches” as being louder than others, even if they’re played at the exact same volume. These frequencies that we perceive as being “louder” are around the 1kHz to 6kHz frequency range. (A team of scientists researched this phenomenon in the 1930’s. You can read more about that here if you wish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher%E2%80%93Munson_curves

So how does this relate to our microphones? Well, as you can imagine, the larger the diaphragm or “ear” of the microphone, the more it can “hear” or pick up. Blue Microphones specializes in creating large diaphragm microphones, which are capable of picking up a much broader range of frequencies or “pitches”. Most consumer microphones, such as the on board mic of a computer, are built using extremely small diaphragms. This means that they are only capable of picking up the smaller frequencies in the frequency spectrum. And as it turns out, those very frequencies, around 1kHz to 6KHz roughly, are the ones that human beings perceive as being “louder”.

This doesn’t mean you are unfounded in your observation that the on board mic of your computer is seemingly louder. This is a common reaction that many people have when experiencing more accurately captured sound for the first time.

If you see visible serial numbers on the tape encircling the body of your Snowball mic, then we’re sorry to say your Snowball is too old to make the transition to newer operating systems. We stopped putting serial numbers on the Snowball in January of 2009. Windows 7 was released in October of that year. Unfortunately there aren’t any drivers that can update your older model Snowball to make it compatible for current platforms.

To increase the input volume of Spark and Spark Digital, hold down the button in the front until the LED lights turn orange. When the lights are orange, you’re increasing your input volume. When the lights are Blue, you’re just increasing your listening volume.

You can also adjust this within your computer by accessing system preferences.

The way Yeti “hears” or picks up sound is akin to what most professional recording studio mics will capture. For modern studio recording, the goal is to capture every tiny nuance of a human voice or instrument. In many circles, audio engineers will gush over the way a particular mic captures “tonsil noise” – if you can believe that – or the faint wood creaks of a guitar. This kind of accuracy can be useful when trying to capture the “intimacy” of a voice recording. This is achieved through the use of large diaphragm condenser microphones. Condenser microphones have a charged back plate within them, and the power for that with the Yeti is provided by your computer. When you speak into the mic, you’re creating very tiny fluctuations in voltage against the voltage of the back plate, and your mic will capture this with incredible accuracy.

In contrast to recording studios, radio and broadcast studios use a different kind of microphone entirely. They don’t use Condenser microphones. They use what are called Dynamic microphones. Dynamic microphones don’t use a charged back plate in the diaphragm or “ear” of the mic, and in turn, voltage is not used to capture sound. Inside these kind of microphones is a metal plate and a magnet. When speaking into this kind of mic, one must use the sound pressure of the air to manipulate the magnetic field. As you can imagine, this takes a great deal more sound pressure. Because of this, a lot “less” is picked up. Tiny nuances on this kind of microphones are far, far less noticeable.

What’s happening here is, your ears are becoming more sensitive to the nuances of the microphone. This is a completely normal and common reaction when you tinker with new audio gear. It takes time to get to know a mic, and “tune in” to its tonal characteristics.

With any microphone on the planet—be it USB or analog, condenser or dynamic—any time you move your sound source away from the diaphragm you will hear variances in the signal. This is referred to as being “off axis”.

We are happy to provide free stickers to our customers, but you have to work a little to get them. Please send a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) to our HQ and we will hook you up! We also LOVE to get pictures/art/stories from our fans and display our favorites for the Blue team or post on Facebook. So put some time into your sticker request and you will be rewarded!

All above mentioned products or related part(s) are warranteed under the conditions outlined below to the original, registered owner, provided the purchase was made from an authorized Blue dealer. This product or related part is guaranteed to remain free from operating defects for two (2) years from the date of purchase. In the event that service is required, all necessary parts and labor will be furnished free of charge during this period.

This warranty is void if the serial number has been altered, removed or defaced. The warranty is void if the equipment is altered, misused, mishandled, maladjusted, suffers excessive wear, or is serviced by any parties not authorized by Blue. The warranty does not include transportation costs incurred because of the need for service unless arranged for in advance. Blue reserves the right to make changes in design and improve upon its products without obligation to install these improvements in anyof its products previously manufactured. This warranty is in lieu of any or all expressed or implied. In keeping with our policy of continued product improvement, Blue reserves the right to alter specifications without prior notice.

All Pro Microphones or related part(s) are warranteed under the conditions outlined below to the original, registered owner, provided the purchase was made from an authorized Blue dealer. This Microphone or related part is guaranteed to remain free from operating defects for three (3) years from the date of purchase. In the event that service is required, all necessary parts and labor will be furnished free of charge during this period except for tubes, which are guaranteed for 90 days against defects.

This warranty is void if the serial number has been altered, removed or defaced. The warranty is void if the equipment is altered, misused, mishandled, maladjusted, suffers excessive wear, or is serviced by any parties not authorized by Blue. The warranty does not include transportation costs incurred because of the need for service unless arranged for in advance. Blue reserves the right to make changes in design and improve upon its products without obligation to install these improvements in anyof its products previously manufactured. This warranty is in lieu of any or all expressed or implied. In keeping with our policy of continued product improvement, Blue reserves the right to alter specifications without prior notice.